Bound buttonhole attachment



June 7, 1960 R. w. BURGESS ET AL 2,939,412

souun BUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT Filed NOV. 4, 1958 INVENTOR5 ROBERT W. BURGESS HELEN M. GORTON ATTORNEYS United States Patent BOUND BUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT Robert W. Burgess, Orange, and Helen M. Gorton, Stony Creek, Conn., assignors to TheGreist Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Nov. 4, 1958, Ser. No. 771,907 Claims. 01. 112-77 This invention relates to a device for making bound or piped buttonholes and more particularly a device of this character for use with an ordinary household sewing stitching may be efiected along the folded piece of cloth at each side of the center line thereof, the device being an improvement over that shown in United States Patent No. 2,814,265, granted November 26, 1957.

The improvement particularly relates to the pronged yoke member pivotally hinged at the underside of the body or base plate of the attachment about which the piece of cloth is folded in order to be sewed to the main body of the material. Means are provided for holding the prongs of this member in place during the useof the device but from which they may be released in order to remove the material therefrom after the sewing. operation. As shown, the detents or hook members with which the free ends of the prongs are engaged are so situated that the prongs move outwardly for disengagement, and

the construction of the prongs is such that this outward movement is readily accomplished. Also the construc-' tion of this pronged yoke is such that it may be economically manufactured and attached to the device in a simple and economical manner. It may also be noted that the prongs in the present application are provided with eyes for holding a cord or the like so that filled or,

corded bound buttonholes may be made.

One object of the present invention is to provide a bound buttonhole attachment for sewing machines which will be efficient in operation and economical to manufacture.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an attachment for making piped or bound buttonholes hav-' ing means for supporting a piece of cloth folded upon-itself at each longitudinal edge thereof in proper position to be sewn to the body of a garment, the device compris- 2,939,412 Patented June 7, 196i] ice In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an attachment embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the device;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showing the manner of use of the device; and

Fig. 6 is a view through the material being sewed.

To illustrate one embodiment of the invention the drawings disclose an attachment comprising a base plate member generally indicated by the numeral 10. This member may be conveniently made of light sheet metal and the material of the plate between the edges thereof may be displaced upwardly throughout the length of the plate, as shown at 11, leaving flat edge portions 12 which lie below the level of the raised central portion 11. This, as will be seen from the sectional view of Fig. 4, for example, provides a channel or space between the raised portion of the device and the surface upon which the attachment may rest.

Adjacent one end of the plate member, which may be termed the rear end, spaced rearwardly projecting ears are provided which are rolled to form aligned sleeve members 13 through which may be passed a pin 14 which in the present instance is of tubular form. The sleeve members 13 are integrally formed with the edge portions 12, of the plate, and between them the plate is cut away leaving an opening 15.

Y The raised portion 11 of the plate extends substantially throughout the length thereof and is provided with a slot 16 slightly less in length than that of the portion 11 so that it is closed at its ends, as shown at 17 and 18. The member 17 may be extended rearwardly, as shown at 19, over the recess 15 and the pivot pin 14. It may 7 also be noted that, as shown in Fig. 4, the edges of the ing a pair of prongs or guide members about which the slot 16 are turned downwardly, as shown at 20, so as to provide rounded edges for the slot which will tend to guide the needle of the sewing machine into the slot 16 if it should strike the edges of the slot in its operation.

Guide means are provided about which the piece of cloth to be sewn to the garment may be folded. This guide means comprises a yoke-shaped member having a coiled bight portion 21 and arms or prongs 22 and 23 extending therefrom. This member is made of light flat spring material so that the bight portion may be readily formed as a coil spring embracing the pin 14 so that it is pivotally or rotatably carried by this pin in order that the prongs 22 and 23 may be swung outwardly away from the plate in order to enable the material to be folded over the prongs.

As the material of the prongs is quite thin and flexible, this construction will permit the prongs to be swung outwardly from the full to the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 2 in order to disengage them from hooks 24 and 25 with which the attachment is provided. These hooks may be formed by cutting thematerial of the portion 1 1 of the base plate and folding the cut. ends downwardly and outwardly in U-shaped form, as shown more especially in Fig. 3. 'During operation the ends of the prongs are engaged within these hooks, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but the prongs may be readily spread to the extent necessary to disengage them from the hooks to place the material thereon or to remove it therefrom after the sewing operation.

As the bight portion21 of the yoke member may be smaller than the space between the aligned sleeves 13, spacing collars 26 may be placed about the pivot pin to hold the guiding yoke member in proper position centrally of the plate.

As shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the prongs 22 and 23 which lie within the space below the raised portion 11 of the attachment to be engaged by the hooks 24 and 25 are provided with eyes or openings 27 in their ends which pro ect from the front. end of the plate member. If it is desired to make a corded bound buttonhole, the cords may be passed through these openings to be held in proper position to be incorporated in the piece of material with which the buttonhole is made.

I In the use of the device the piece of cloth 29 which is to be sewn to the material 30 of the garment in which the buttonhole is to be made is folded about the prongs or guide members 22 and 26 after the yoke member has been swung downwardly about the pivot pin 14 to open position so as to facilitate this operation. The free ends 31 of the piece of cloth are then brought upwardly through the slot 16. The attachment with the piece of cloth thereon is then placed over the material 30 of the garment and placed under the needle bar of the sewing machine. The free edges 31 may then be folded over upon one side of the attachment as shown in Fig. and the cloth 29 may then be sewn to the material 30, as shown at 32, this line of stitching being adjacent one edge of the slot 16.

The free edges 31 of the material are then folded toward the other side of the attachment and a second line of stitching 3:2 (Fig. 6) may be made adjacent the other edge of the slot. It will be seen that the prongs 22 and 23 of the guiding yoke member are thus enclosed within the folds of the cloth 29by the stitching 32 and 32 The sewing operation having been completed, the prongs 22 and 23 may be disengaged from the hooks 24 and 25 by spreading the'prongs outwardly and may be swung downwardly from the base plate sothat the material may be removed from the attachment by sliding the latter off the free ends of the prongs. Thereafter the edges 31 of the material 29. may be drawn downwardly through slots cut in the materials 29 and 30, as shown in Fig. 6.

While one embodiment of the invention is illustrated and described, it will be understood "that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

l. A device for making bound buttonholes comprising a plate member having a substantially centrally disposed slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, a yoke member pivoted to the plate member adjacent one end thereof and having substantially parallel prong members extending along a lower surface of the plate, one adjacent each side edge of the slot, said yoke member comprising a flat strip of flexible material spirally coiled at its central portion with the prong members extending freely from the coiled portion, a pin carried by the plate member and loosely embraced by the coiled portion of the yoke member to pivotally attach the latter to the plate member, and hook members at the under surface of the plate within which the extending ends of the prong membersare received to hold them in place.

2. A device for making bound buttonholes comprising a plate member having a substantially centrally disposed slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, a yoke member pivoted to the plate member adjacent one end thereof and having substantially parallel prong members extending along a lower surface of the plate, one adjacent each side edge of the slot, said yoke member comprising a fiat strip of flexible material coiled at its central portion with the prong members extending freely from the coiled portion, said coiled portion being pivotally attached to the plate, hook members at the under surface of the plate Within which the extending ends of the prong members are received to hold them in place, and said free ends extending beyond the hook members and having cordreceiving openings therein.

3. A device for making bound buttonholes comprising a plate member having a substantially centrally disposed slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, said plate member having integrally formed aligned sleeve members at one end thereoffa pivot pin carried by said sleeve members, a flat strip of flexible material having its intermediate portion loosely coiled about said pivot pin and its end portions extending therefrom in spaced relation, one adjacent each side edge of said slot at the under side of the plate, and hook members carried by the plate member to receive said end portions and releasably hold them in place.

4. A device for making bound buttonholes comprising a plate member having a substantially centrally disposed slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, said plate member-having integrally formed aligned sleeve members at one end thereof, a pivot pin carried by said sleeve members, a fiat strip of flexible material having its intermediate portion loosely coiled about said pivot pin and its end portions extending therefrom in spaced relation, one adjacent each side edge of said slot at the under side of the plate, hook members carried by the plate member to receive said end portions and releasably hold them in place, and said end portions extendmg beyond the plate member and having openings in their extending portions.

5. A device for making bound button holes comprising an elongated plate member having its central portion displaced upwardly with respect to the longitudinal side edge portions thereof, said central portion having a long1- tudinally disposed slot therein, said side edge portions extending beyond saidcentral portion at one end of the .plate member and having integrally formed sleeve members at said extended ends, a pivot pin carried by said sleeve members, a flat strip of flexible resilient material having its intermediate portion spirally and loosely wound about said pivot pin, the free ends of said strip extending from said spirally wound portion to form prong members extending along the under surface of the plate member below said upwardly displaced portion thereof in spaced relation, one adjacent each edge of said slot, means at the under side of said plate member to engage said prong members and releasably hold them in place, said prong members extending beyond the plate and having openings in the extended ends thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,584,051 Rose Jan. 29, 1952 2,705,930 Mosberg Apr. 12, 1955 2,711,142 Matthies June 21, 1955 2,814,264 Burgess Nov. 26, 1957 2,814,265 Burgess Nov. 26, 1957 

